The Rams moving to Los Angeles was extremely tough on the fans in St. Louis. Many felt betrayed and no longer support the team after Stan Kroenke bolted for the bright lights of Hollywood. As difficult as it was for the city, moving to Los Angeles opened doors for the team and its players.
It’s a big reason Ndamukong Suh decided to sign with the Rams last offseason, given the business opportunities available in L.A. Todd Gurley is also taking advantage of being in Hollywood, capitalizing on off-field ventures and preparing for life after football.
On the LightHarted Podcast with Josh Hart, Gurley discussed how he’s setting himself up for success after his playing days are over.
“You’ve got to. You’ve got to. For me, you have to. For me to be in L.A. and be a known athlete, to have actual billionaires’ numbers in your phone. Because once you’re out of this league, it’s too late. It’s way too late,” Gurley said. “Show the type of person you are now. You don’t have to be fake or anything but just make those connections and do everything possible. So if nothing did work out, at least you know that – just like in sports – you work hard, you work hard, even if the outcome is not what you want, at least you know you put yourself in the best position possible.”
When Gurley first came into the NFL, he wasn’t as focused on the business side of being a professional athlete. He admits he liked partying and having a good time, which is to be expected of young players.
However, now entering his fifth season, Gurley has turned his attention to business opportunities and establishing connections.
“I feel like I’m not late, but I feel I could’ve been doing this a lot sooner, which is OK because you live and you learn,” Gurley said. “But when I first got in the league, it was about partying. It was like, ‘OK, I can party, but instead of chilling and sitting around and not doing nothing productive all day, why not set up meetings?’
“I just went to the Super Bowl, I’m playing in the NFL, I’m a known athlete, so it’s like, why not put myself in a position? I have all these phone numbers in my phone, so why not use them? For me, I just want to know. Because what you don’t know, you don’t know and the only way to know is to experience it or get the knowledge from someone else.
Gurley has opened his mind to other financial opportunities besides just his NFL paycheck, such as investing in stocks. He invested in Beyond Meat early on before the price of the stock soared following its IPO. And now that Gurley is exploring those avenues, he’s discussing them with other players and friends, too.
“I’ve been learning about the business, building your own brand, being your own CEO and learning about that stuff, it interests me,” he said. “It kind of got my head to where I’m telling my friends about this and now we’re all having conversations instead of sitting at a table talking about what we’re going to do tonight, we’re like, ‘Hey man, I heard about the Beyond Meat’ or ‘You heard about this trade?’ or ‘Amazon did this or does that.’”
It’s especially important for Gurley to build his brand and to make money off the field because NFL players’ careers are so short, particularly with regards to running backs. He knows he’s not going to play forever, so he wants to set himself up for success after football.
“I want to learn that side of the business because for basketball, you can play five years, 10 years, 15 years. But I’m a running back, I’m only going to play for so long. If I did five years, 10 years, 15 years, I would definitely be happy, but I still have plenty of life to live after that,” Gurley added. “I want to be so busy and have stuff set up so when I’m done, I’m not even thinking about football, it’s like I already have this in place, I already have my foundation that I’m starting up and then I can start working on that and just learning other stuff.”
Gurley is making more than $14 million per year, but he knows the importance of being financially stable after football and he’s putting a clear emphasis on that aspect of his life.